The lovers Tiff

Oh dear, there appears to have been a lovers tiff. Mr Obama, Master of the Universe, Magnificent Leader of Earth, Protector / Dictator of the Oil Rich, ignored of the poor and underprivileged, has no time at G20 for Mr Cameron, the lapdog who couldn’t control Parliament.

Apparently Obi one abama has time to speak to his oldest ally, President Hollande. The British PM’s ‘Special Relationship’ depends on Cameron’s ability to deliver what Uncle Sam wants. Failure leads to instant rejection, being ignored on the world stage. Perhaps Diddy David will be sufficiently miffed by the lack of limelight that he might actually start doing what we pay him to do. Work for the benefit of this nation not jumping through hoops at his masters command. Cameron is not alone of course, it seems that every British Government since at least WW2 has bent over and taken whatever Uncle Sam hands out, for very little recompense.

However, Cameron seems to believe that he can, as reported by the BBC, flex Britains ‘diplomatic muscle’. Dear David, just what muscle are you thinking of. It is not the one between your ears that is for sure.

If our Government had any idea of how the population feels it would not be trying to finance a further expensive war, with an army stretched to breaking point with weapons that must be nearly worn out. It appears that thrift is only a desirable attribute in the masses. The giants who have risen to the dizzy heights of power obviously have no need of thrift, or common sense. They can keep pillaging the finances of the poor to fund there increasingly obnoxious lifestyles.

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Fracking

The silence weeps oozing into the days
Stretching out into weeks and months
The frackers come, smug, oily hands rub
The expectation of profit flows from there very pores
The nature recoils, trees sigh with sadness
The earth made to heave itself skywards
In shafts of despair

A yellow flowering on the trees and fences
A splash of joy and hope unleashed
Strange people garbed in hues both bright and somber
A gathering of ordinary minds joined as one
One purpose many minds power exponentially multiplied
The pawns of the state used to suppress freedom
A bad law misapplied a legacy of Thatcher

A week or two pass our masters gaze distracted
The people remain with their black clad chaperone
Cameron is diverted he smells oil in the air
Petty politics rises with votes to beat him
His cabinet wail at lost trips oe’er the pond
They have no clue of plebeian muses
Mutterings in corners not seen by the great

The drones are restless things fall apart
Money is worthless life beyond our means
The devil strides the world disguised corporate
Gekko the model, greed is the king
You fanfare destruction our green earth is dying
Small steps derided economy ignored
The way forward is spend buy and store.

Playing by the rules

There was a time, I seem to recall, when playing by the rules was really important. In many ways it summed up being British.  I have of course posted about this attitude elsewhere with my tongue planted in my cheek. One example alone, PC Yvonne Fletcher. Murdered in central London by a Libyan ‘diplomat’ who shot her from inside the embassy. The principle of diplomatic immunity was clear. No effort was made to enter and search, no threat of any kind.

Fast forward to a more modern, dare I say corrupt, time.  Julian Assange is wanted by the US because he excercisd a form of freedom of speech frowned upon by that ‘democratic’ nation. The history of the saga is well documented. It is postulated that the Swedish charges of sexual misconduct are trumped up. A ruse in order for the US to get it’s Pilate hands on Mr Assange. His real crime it seems is the ability to have others, disgruntled souls not Politically motivated in the main, tell the truth about goings on that governments would rather keep out of the public eye.

The latest seems to be that the UK, who wouldn’t extradite Assange to the US because he would risk the death penalty, want to extradite him to Sweden, who will send him to the US, where he will run the risk of the death penalty. In order to achieve it’s goal the UK have apparently threatened to storm the Ecuadorean embassy. What happened to diplomatic immunity?

A country so concerned about fairness that it struggles to extradite alleged terrorists, a haven for people claiming political asylum on what appear to be relatively weak grounds in order to be fair, seems to lose all sense of fair play when it comes to the bidding of it’s favourite uncle.

If Mr Assange committed the crime alleged in Sweden he could be tried in the UK. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 states (I paraphrase) if a sexual offence is committed any where in the world by a person who meets the nationality or residence condition at that time he can be tried in the UK for that offence. Frankly I don’t know what chicanery may or may not be employed, but the last time I checked Australians are allowed to live in the UK, Mr Assange is an Australian a member of the commonwealth.

If the role was reversed. Say a Libyan civil rights activist was holed up in the UK embassy in Tripoli and the Libyan government threatened to storm the building to carry out a search and arrest, can you imagine the outcry!

It is high time we, in this green and sceptered land learned to be consistent, perhaps as a nation we need to be prepared to show the world that Right is Might and that bullying, from whoever, will not pay off. Mr Churchill showed the size of his cahunas when necessary. It is time for the government to stand up and say we believe in fair play by the rules. If Ecuador wish to provide a safe haven for Mr Assange what right has any other government got to interfere.

We are all different …

Which in my view is a good thing. Imagine a world where everyone thought the same and there was never any difference of opinion. Progress would cease and a state of general inertia would exist.

It is my view that common ground can be found in ideas from disparate people even if not all of the ideas are acceptable. I have recently seen this post http://jasonalanwriter.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/i-have-the-solution/ whilst I cannot accept of endorse gangs of state sponsored assasins, which is where this post starts, it does seem to me that to reduce Military spending and use the savings for job creation and social spending would be wonderful. Perhaps the ‘Defence’ spending should be just that. Remove the offensive portion of spending and just have defensive capability.

This will never work because Posh Dave and his mates will lose money and sleep worrying about the ‘reds under the beds’ or whatever group they choose to be afraid of today. I have found comfort and solace even among ‘enemies’ or former foes.  In the UK the Sun berates the Germans appearing to believe that the Germans are still, along with Russia and homosexuals, the enemy incapable of good and are in every regard, evil. Back in the ’70’s I lived in Germany, travelling over a large area of that great country courtesy of HM armed forces. My experiences were universally positive. My observation, for what it’s worth is that the ‘Hun’ is so similar to your average Brit that the only difference is the way we speak.

It’s the same with the Irish, I served there, it was unpleasant. The people were, in large part, no different to you dear reader, or I. Fear, certainly, was prevalent. I did however speak to both Catholic and Protestant. Each would have chartachters who wanted to kill me, but equally and more importantly, each community had good people trying to live life respectably, educate their children and to stop the bloody violence.

No nation on earth is ‘bad’, just as no nation is ‘good’. Nations are made up of individuals. Individuals have free will. I do not believe that any government should try to impose its will on any other government / people. Indeed, looking at the shambles in the UK I don’t think governments are qualified to tell their own people what to do. As for sending squads of hooded men, highly trained, into different nations to kill leaders with whom the base country disagrees sounds a bit like 1984. Friends and enemies changing with each election and history being rewritten.

I do not agree with Mugabe, the man appears, from our news, to be evil. But there is the problem. How independent and neutral is the media?  Probably not at all. Murdoch’s empire certainly isn’t

There is a series of video from a group called The Urban Farming Guys, social change in action well worth a look and giving support. Think local impact .. flobal to mis quote the green movement.

http://www.youtube.com/user/theurbanfarmingguys?feature=results_main

 

Enough of the rant already, it’s too hot.

The Man In Black

Strange, I have always liked Johnny Cash, no that’s not strange. I have seen in him concert, I have listened to his music but without really thinking. San Quentin made me think, with one or two other tracks but I never understood the significance of Big John being called the man in black. Earlier I wrote a post and used Wanted Man as a media insert. This got me thinking about Johnny’s music. I You Tubed him and have just listened to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Gp2LtiGWs&feature=endscreen&NR=1

He says in 3.02 what I haven’t been able to say in thousands of words, I feel inadequate, in awe and grateful.

Miss you John

The good ‘ole US of A. What a great country, everything revolves around the US. Nothing is more important than the wishes of the president and his people. American policy has made the world what it is and its about time the rest of us just said ‘Thank you’ very nicely and left them to it.

At least that’s what the American’s would like us to bel;ieve. Obama has been lecturing Europe on how to run it’s economy, in the best interests of America’s global domination policy. Now it seems the Pakistani’s have fallen foul of the US, … again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistan-officials-missiles-from-us-drone-kills-10-alleged-militants-in-countrys-northwest/2012/05/24/gJQAHMi7lU_story.html

Now, I don’t think the Pakistani government is the most transparant. But then I only see what the Western media (Murdoch and his cronies) want us to see. The added issue is that I do not view events in that region with local eyes. I have regular contact with people from the Indian sub continent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sure, they are different to me in some ways, but there are more similarities than differences. If the government of any given country disagree’s with the US of A does it really mean they become the new ‘Dr Evil’. The US appear to be looking around for anyone who can fill the shoes of the evil Josef Stalin. Oh Dear.

If the US really cared about the world and the evil that men do, it could do much worse than to address the ill’s, the crimes against humanity that it has perpetrated. I am not talking about the odd murder, or even Slobodan Milosovic style genocide, these pale into insignificance when viewed against the crimes the US are responsible for. Agent Orange is one example. Rampant globalisation of brands leading to ever increasing destruction of our planet. Is there such a word as Planeticide? If not there should be and the US government and industry should be first in the dock rapidly followed by most Western governments, followed by the bit players like China India and Brazil.

Dear Uncle Sam, put your own house in order. If people of any nation choose to protest then all power to them. Just for clarity, I do not condone violent protest, Mahatma was more the man, with Dr King.

 

 

Trumping Wind Power

I wonder what people think is more important, providing cheap sustainable electricity for the citizen, or a round of golf for the privileged?

Donald Trump, the well known ‘Green’ activist is apparently outraged.

Like or loathe Alex Salmond he has said that he wants Scotland to produce the equivalent of 100% of his countries, let’s not pretend they are really a part of the UK anymore, electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. I would have thought this is a perfectly sane and rational decision from a Scottish Parliamentarian to take in his nations interests.

Mr Trump thinks that the presence of a mere 11 wind turbines in Aberdeen Bay will so blight the spot that his one billion pound golf resort will become less profitable. The turbines will spoil his customers sea view. Shouldn’t you keep your eye on the ball when playing golf? He claims that Scotland will become a third world wasteland that foreign investors will avoid. At least it’s citizens will be able to make tea into the future!

Thanks BBC for the information here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-17826561

Now far be from me to criticise Mr Trump, I am sure he is an altruistic kind of guy. He has said that he will spend 10 million pounds on fighting the wind turbines erection. The erection of the turbines will bring lasting fiscal benefit and employment opportunities stretching into the future beyond the demise of Mr Trump and his personal money making enterprises. He complains that wind power is not effective without subsidy. Well, if we all paid the actual cost of things instead of subsidised costs of things perhaps we would all be less inclined to use more than we need.

Who the hell does Trump think he is? He is not Scottish, he does not live in Scotland, he has only invested a paltry 1bn pounds. The offshore farm is worth 30bn of investment.

Trump cares about the planet I am sure, that is why he seems to take every opportunity to fly everywhere. He could surely have presented his evidence to the committee via internet conference call or whatever. However, he chose to fly to make a personal appearance.

Perhaps Mr Trump is feeling the pinch in these financially straightened times, in November 2011 he claimed to be worth 7bn dollars US. At 65 does he think he has time left to spend all the money he has made off the backs of the poor and the blighted?

Trump is supposed to be a businessman. A business man looks for opportunities for profit continuing into the future, rather than the blinkered view of the flash Harry quick buck merchant. Mr Trump it seems has become myopic in his dotage, he cannot see the extended profit of wind power. The capital cost may be large but the investment stream will last way beyond the grass he is cultivating.

Does Trump really believe that leisure should take precedence over investment in infrastructure? An infrastructure designed to work far beyond peak oil, when his customer base will no longer be able to fly, except maybe by airship or hot air balloon. He could probably provide all the hot air, at a cost, for his chums to inflate said balloons.

Employment for the local economy? I suppose Trumps customers can look forward to being caddied by exclusively Scots caddies? Accommodation serviced by exclusively Scots staff? I think not, cheap labour flown in from the Phillipines or wherever.  If they are looked after by Scots people, they will probably be humiliated by being forced to wear the Tartan Trump, wear plaid and walk around greeting guests with a cheery ‘Och aye the noo‘ and other US held stereotypical attributes given to the Scots.

Trump would probably rather we used oil, coal or nuclear. If the Scottish Parliament collapses and agrees not to put the wind farm in the bay, I hope they put a socking great nuclear plant right next door to Trumps Tee.

Mr Trump, you cannot be a nimby here, even your yard ain’t that big.